Hoski

On 2/27/2019 at 6:20 PM, JohnK6404 said:

My wife and I, along with another couple we're cruising with, booked tonight too!

What sailing?

23 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

I’m so glad it showed up for you!  Pretty sure it isn’t happening on mine but that is prob. Good since we already have the drink pkg.  jane

We have the drink package also but I really want to do this so it is worth it to me.

5 hours ago, MorganMichelle2001 said:

When you drop your kids at Adventure Ocean, do they give you some type of pager? do they ask you where you will be on the ship? Or require a specific pick-up time? How would they get in touch with the parents if the kids were sick or wanted to leave? 

No pager, they have your phone number and they can find you based on your card. 

They did not ask where we were going. 

You need to pick up at the end of each session unless they are signed up for a meal with the club and you need to sign them up for that ahead of time.

Phone number

5 hours ago, MorganMichelle2001 said:

Also, for the late-night option (paid $7/kid/hour), has anyone ever done this? My kids are 5 and 8 so if we did it would only be one night if DH and I wanted to go the club or just stay out late. My worry is that they would just fall asleep, they'd be so tired! Do they have places for kids to crash? Is that normal for the late-night hours (kiddos falling asleep at Adventure Ocean?)

We used the late night option 2 or 3 times. 

They probably won't fall asleep because they will be playing fun games with other kids and the staff. 

They do have mats for them to crash on if they want.

4 hours ago, LindaN said:

I was going to ask the same questions and 3 others so I’ll add them here.  

1. Do kids have to stay the entire session or can I drop my 7 year old off for just an hour or 2?

2.  Do they take the kids to the pool or splash zone at all or are they in the same room the entire time?

3. Can I get all weeks kids compasses on the first day?  I would like to be able to plan stuff I want to do, with when I will drop her there.  Several of the activities I see in the Royal app are offered on several diff days and if I knew they were doing something fun on one of the days for kids then I could figure out which day to do my activity. 

You can pick them up before the session is over.

No water activities but they may go other places.  Our daughter didn't because she only went after dinner then for late night.

You will get the week's kids' compass on the first day.  Extras by the guest service desk through the week.

We found they schedule was very general and we couldn't count on any one activity.

Another item of note is they played games and got prizes each late night.  My daughter got some nice items for free from the staff each late night.  The hourly fee is very reasonable plus she got free stuff, not a bad deal.

MTD can work for you.  Use your cruise planner to book the main dining room at the time you want each evening.  Do it as soon as reservations are available as some times do fill up.  We didn't get our favorite time for one cruise but it is a really popular time on that ship.  In December as soon as we booked our cruise I went on and booked the same time for each night for our group.  We had the same table each night.  For one upcoming cruise we booked the same time each evening except the one we are in port late.  It is easier to just walk up if you have only 2 in your party.  With bought specialty dining for our anniversary cruise so we chose MTD and made no reservations because we plan to eat in specialty every night or all but one. 

Thanks everyone, I have purchased in my cruise planner.  I will be dressing up but hubby will not.  I like 1920's style so I'm excited for it.

Well no need to buy soda or refreshment packages for the kids then.  We aren't Coke drinkers but the kids like the vitamin water and cream soda in the machines.  Otherwise they are happy with water and the Pepsi we carry on. 

3 hours ago, OrlandoC said:

I stopped reading after the author started talking about their dangerous drive through a "Level 2 alert area". 

And not mentioning that Level 2 is the second lowest level which is also given to the "dangerous" countries of Germany, Denmark, and the UK. 

I agree with you as my family of 5 usually spend 2 weeks per year in this highly dangerous area.  I probably shouldn't risk my children's lives by taking them on vacation any more and just leave them home with grandma.

On our December cruise they were offering 5 beers in a cooler that you could keep afterwards.  It was actually a decent deal but you couldn't get it with the drink package.  

And watch for a sale on this under Activities in your cruise planner.  The cost varies by ship even though they all say it is 2 hours.  We are cruising a few times this year and opted to do the tour on the Empress for only $49.  It is held on a sea day and we got to choose morning or afternoon. 

Previous post on this.

Search here for your ship and see if they punch once for any size or two for medium and three for large.  If they do more than one punch which seems to be the norm now then the card is not a good deal.  

5 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

With the refreshment package, I do this all the time.  Every time I go by a bar, I will ask for a bottle of water.  I stock them up in the room.  By the last day, Hubby says I need help and makes me stop.  lol

Hubby says this also until he gets dry at night and chugs all the water in the fridge.

7 hours ago, Angelicious said:

@Hoski that’s actually a very good idea! Thank you! Quick question though: can I stock up on bottled water this way?

Yes, every time you pass a bar or order a drink also get a bottle of water to take back to the cabin. 

It seems most of the fleet has them but not the Empress.  What's the chances that Empress will get them during her brief dry dock? 

Book your sister with you now and cancel if she cannot come.  It's much harder to add and can change your price.

I would suggest the soda package for your son and the refreshment package for you and here is why.  The coffee card doesn't save that much as Royal seems to have changed their policy so it's 1 punch for a small, 2 for a medium and 3 for a large.  If it doesn't have to be Evian for you just bottled water you can get all the bottled water you want with the refreshment package.  I would think that would almost be cheaper for you instead of buying a soda package, a water delivery and a coffee card. 

We aren't Coke drinkers so we don't use the soda package.  My kids drink the free stuff including milk except at dinner the one gets a soda and I just pay for that.  When traveling with my husband I get the booze package because I tend to drink more with him.  For my mom and kids trip I'm not getting any package but will bring a 12 pack of Pepsi on with us and that will keep us happy.  I also am considering pre-ordering a water package for that trip because water and Pepsi will work for us.  I think the water on Royal is expensive compared to other cruise lines.

We are a family of 5 who take multiple trips per year plus I travel for work.  We were paying between $150 to $250 for insurance per trip and so I looked into annual travel insurance.  Our trips vary on who travels from one to five of us.  Most of our trips are free for at least one cabin because of the casino but the other expenses add up.  Five airfares, shore excursions, hotels, etc.  Have we traveled without it? yes.  Do we usually buy it?  yes  We have also used it for things like medical expenses for the kids, trip delay due to airline delay and delayed luggage.  Travel insurance isn't a fix all but it takes the bite out of expenses if something goes wrong.  Different policies have different look back periods for pre-existing conditions so be careful on that.  Also, typically mental illness is not covered so if someone needs hospitalized for this and you are unable to travel it is not covered.

Those items are still available free. 

Although I wouldn't be excited about going to Nassau getting a day's fare back is a bonus.  I would stay onboard and enjoy my drink package at this stop.

We started buying ship ornaments for each of our girls on the cruises they take and also an ornament in each port.  Not sure what level my hubby is but we had a 10% off note in our cabin so we used that to purchase them.  We went in December and I bought the last 4 they had.  If you are going for the ornaments I would buy it right away.  I have decided that if we cannot get them an ornament on the ship they are going to get a key chain that I will change the hanger on to make it an ornament.  I wish I would have thought of this a long time ago for my oldest because she would have 11 ship ornaments by now and tons from ports and other places we have visited. 

The price difference between the two may be the amount of coverage.  You would need to look at each policy detail to know for sure.  We recently bought an annual policy because we havea lot of trips planned plus I travel for work, that had a 6 month pre-existing clause says 6 months. 

You can still do it.  Link the reservations in your cruise planner to start so that you can do everything for both rooms with one log in.  The price shown is what you will get charged even if only booking one.  The BOGO 50% off is really the same as the 25% in my experience.

Don't forget a happy birthday sign for on your cabin door along with a dollar store whiteboard for others to tell your wife happy birthday.

We took a 10 pack of Quik milk in December for our daughter.  She has to have milk with her medicine and it needs to be chocolate or she won't take it.  Only once in 5 nights could we get chocolate milk in Windjammer because they were always out of chocolate.  We had to count it towards our carry on beverage limit but we had 3 cabins so it worked for us.

1 hour ago, Baked Alaska said:

Was it the ambience? Food? Service?

Hubby said the food wasn't as good and the service not great.